Are you complaining just for the sake of it?

[LokeAa]

It should come as no surprise that Google aims to streamline the design of its applications. The recent app update has made the Fitbit app more in line with other Google apps like YouTube, Maps, and Photos.

Tens of millions of people use their Fitbit watches every single day, yet there are only a few hundred complaints. Will Google reverse the changes made to Fitbit due to a microscopic number of complaints from a vocal minority? Highly unlikely.

Complaints primarily revolve around design changes and some alleged missing functions. However, the vast majority of functions remain intact; they might just be in different places after the update.

Why do you own a Fitbit? 

What's more important to you: a flashy app or better health?

Hopefully, it's because you want to monitor your activity levels and exercise. Fitbit offers features like step counting, heart rate measurement, and activity tracking, with some models even featuring GPS for trail tracking, distance, and speed information. For many users, the health features are crucial. Do you want to improve your cardiovascular health, lose weight,  get in better shape? The Fitbit's health features allow you to track your progress, regardless of how the app looks.

Trends are important, not the moment

Remember, trends matter more than the "here and now." Some Fitbit devices have advanced features that measure blood oxygen levels, sleep patterns, and stress levels. It's the long-term changes and trends that are important, not the changes from one hour to the next or one day to the next.

Out of all the baseless claims in various discussions, one stands out as the most absurd: "How many lives have been lost?" Seriously..."

[Odyssey13]

Wow, @LokeAa  Well said and true.

[OhmZ666]

Tens of millions of people use their Fitbit watches every single day, yet there are only a few hundred complaints. 

The feedback thread asking for a return to the old app has 2000+ thumbs up. Of the tens of millions of users, only a small portion will make the effort to sign up to the Fitbit Community forums and make a post. My sister and mother who also use Fitbit said they don't like the new design. But they're not going to come on here and make a post about it. What you don't see is the users emailing or calling support and asking how they can change it back only to be disappointed to find out that they're stuck with this awful new design. 

I agree with you that virtually no features have been lost. But my biggest gripe is the visual design change. The monochrome color, removal of all gradients, changing of font, size and placement of text — all of it made the app experience worse as far as readability is concerned and less accessible to those with vision and data processing disabilities. It's just a bit harder now to absorb the data at a glance.

Lastly, who are you to dismiss the complaints of others? Just say you don't mind the new app and move on. You needn't try to convince us that we should like the new app.

[LokeAa]

@OhmZ666 What you say in relation to the visually impaired

1. High Contrast: Black on white offers one of the highest levels of contrast, making it easy to distinguish text from its background.

2. Readability: Black on white are used because of its readability.

3. Accessibility: Black on white is suitable for people with a wide range of visual impairments, including those with low vision.

Moderator Edit: Word choice

[Triletics]

@LokeAa I don't complain about the look. I complain about features missing for real. Do you run? Or cycle? I will give you a small example. If Kiptum, who now holds a marathon world record (2:00:35) used Fitbit's new app, he would see that he finished in 2h1m (Fitbit seems to round up the time after 30s). You don't see the problem but people who run do see it. I focus mostly on sports tracking and there are lots of things not only missing now but also made the way it makes sports tracking useless for many people. Sure, you are happy with the app. It's your right to be. But the Fitbit platform is quite versatile and not everyone uses it the same way as you. Complaining for the sake of complaining won't do any good but it also doesn't grant you a right to be so hostile.

Here are some issues I posted from the runner's perspective:
https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Android-App/No-kilometer-mile-splits-when-using-manual-laps/m-p/5474...

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Android-App/Exercise-details-view-issues-in-the-new-app/m-p/5459497

There are more issues like no laps markers on the map (or anything) unless extended (and then they are not labelled anyway unless tapped). Again, I know you may not need that but imagine these are features we (as runners) had before and used and they are gone now. And knowing Fitbit, some won't be back. Even in one of the Charge 6 reviews I read the reviewer used the word "rudimentary" to describe the current state of sports tracking on the Fitbit platform.

One thing that is done better is that finally, swimming shows pace not calories for laps.

I don't mind that the app evolves and changes the look. It happened in the past several times. Just before I got my first Fitbit tracker the app changed, too (there were some tiles or something like that). Do you remember this?

(to be honest, this isn't bad design, simple, readable)

I don't because I hadn't seen that version but there were remaining threads of complaints because of changing UI into tiles we got accustomed to (eventually, threads disappeared over time, the same will happen now). This is normal to move forward with UX, etc. Yet, it's hard to defend a half-baked product, unfinished and buggy. This app was released too early (it still has elements from the old app and the iOS version is behind - it doesn't look like the product ready for release) but apparently, it had to hit the market before Charge 6 and Pixel Watch 2.

I could ask, are you being hostile just for the sake of being hostile?

@Odyssey13 seriously? I feel like some people use their Fitbits only as decoration so they don't see any functional issues.

[CardiganWearer]

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@Triletics wrote:... I focus mostly on sports tracking and there are lots of things not only missing now but also made the way it makes sports tracking useless for many people. ... Even in one of the Charge 6 reviews I read the reviewer used the word "rudimentary" to describe the current state of sports tracking on the Fitbit platform.

... I feel like some people use their Fitbits only as decoration so they don't see any functional issues.

Agree.

I rarely come here since I know Fitbit disregard feedback in the main.

I came to see what ppl thought of the new app and like you found it weird that Fitbit decide to no longer show seconds for run times, and they no longer show Max heart rate either - 2 things I log.

And yes, I log them outside of Fitbit because after many years (I found the old thread, still there and being added to) you still can't filter by Activity type (like show me all my runs or all my bikes etc)

I have had a couple of Fitbits and only one still works and like you suggest I won't be buying another.

Fitbit have their place I guess - whatever motivates ppl to have a healthier lifestyle if fine by me, but for logging and reviewing any sports activities it isn't particularly good.

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[vanessa720]

yes we are all up here to complain, really dude?   

[SunsetRunner]

My device doesn't work at all so kudos to him for having something to work with. I've been without my device for a few days now. It loops in the start-up phase. Even after I did a system reset, it went through the set-up process, communicated with my phone but subsequently started looping again. I'm sure this was probably a good business call at first however the number of complaints should be alarming for this company. 

[SunsetRunner]

I don't use forums for the heck of it. I'm seeking insight about why my perfectly operating device started having problems and if I'm the only one experiencing these problems and if not what can be done to resolve the issues. For whatever reason one decides to purchase a Fitbit, it's their decision. Mine was for health reasons and now I don't have a monitoring device. The new app is less desireable. I'd perfer the previous version. I just want my device to operate the way it was designed to operate when it was purchased. His devices are operating fine it seems to me. 

[Triletics]

@LokeAa Apparently, you were wrong. Complaints didn't go unnoticed. Seems like complaints (probably for the first time ever) worked and made Fitbit announce improved UI (spacing, layouting) and bring back some features like battery percentage. If people didn't complain, would that happen? Maybe, it might have already been a part of the app development roadmap (the app was released unfinished) but the backlash from the community (not only here) might have something to do with it (at least Fitbit says so).

[tompabes]

You're trying to defend the undefendable. Only a small percentage of users register in the community and actively writes their feedbacks or opinions in the forum. The amount of complaints that have been received is huge, I've rarely seen an uprising like this one in the history of this community. And, to be honest, most of the complaints were legitimate. Such a huge amount of complaints here probably translates in millions of unsatisfied users outside, that might simply decide to buy another brand.

[Goosse1962]

I agree with you @LokeAa. I have wanted to write something similar but not wanting to take the time for it. I feel that using the suggestions feature is a better feedback mechanism than running down the product and company.

When I was planning on switching to a new platform due to some issues with Fitbit support and these forums having become useless jungles, I was going to do it silently. After a 2-year delay in tracker replacement, to my dismay, I found that the best tracker and smartwatch were both Fitbit by far. However, when I found the news article that Google had purchased Fitbit, I took another look. Despite a few issues, the Sense, and now the Sense 2, have been the best wrist-based tracker I have used, both in features and a better fit for my small wrist.

Unlike many posters here, I am looking forward to switching to my Google account. However, I am waiting a while for the normal new product issues to be resolved so that I spend less time dealing with issues. In most cases, waiting at lease 6 months reduces my switchover time.

Have a Terrific day!

[Lilbiddy]

@Triletics Personally I think that the only reason that there has been any response to the complaints about the redesigned app is that it's now only 10 weeks to Christmas. They've got to shift all those new charge 6 units and whatever other new toys. The poor reviews elsewhere must be having some effect on their forecast dollars. 

[FitFrank]

As a 10+ veteran user of fitbit, no, I'm not here just to complain. I rarely log in, and now I have to.

For the very first time ever, my fitbit has nearly died due to low battery life.  This was something that I would be aware of every day, when I synced my fitbit in the morning after a sleep, to see my sleep, and the battery percentage reminded me that it needed to be charged.

Without the battery percentage automatically showing up when syncing, I don't remember to pro-actively check the battery level.  Consequently, as I was ready to go bed tonight, I get a fitbit alert that battery was low.  It's f*** annoying to delay my sleep so I can charge my fitbit before sleep or it will die.

This is a real world impact of a stupid decision to remove useful features on the fitbit app.

So no, we're not just complaining.  The new app is truly horrendous, and I will never buy another fitbit product unless this changes.  Samsung / Apple products are looking far better at this point.

This is real dollars, and real user base that will abandon fitbit / google if they ignore their users.  Truly tragic and avoidable, if they would get their heads out of the sand and listen to user feedback.

[Triletics]

@Lilbiddy reviews made by media weren't poor. In fact, reviewers conveniently skipped anything about app update. The backlash from customers went much further than this forum and spilled all over social media to the point some tech media had to speak up, too. That probably forced Fitbit not to fix the app but to stop being quiet about an elephant in the room. I wrote a few times the app has been released unfinished and I'm convinced  that those upcoming updates were there somewhere in the roadmap and eventually would be implemented. Fitbit has a tendency to keep quiet when the forests are on fire. This time they couldn't (and they turned it into PR stunt "we listen to our customers", not bad). I'm afraid that there won't be many fixes though. Yesterday, I learned about another isssue (no pace and distance in the app when walk or run is tracked with no GPS). Those issues are probably nowhere in the roadmap and will take months to fix (if at all). We shall see what's going to happen. I'm lucky enough to be using mutliple platforms hence have more patience but I understand other users. For me, the UI is not that great but I use mostly exercise tracking so I can live with it. Exercise tracking on the other hand is broken like it never was but that isn't announced as one of the improvements (and since it's been left untouched on iOS so less users noticed those problems).

[Lilbiddy]

@Triletics  Sorry if I was unclear. I didn't mean professional reviews, I was referring to users' reviews and comments on various platforms and sites. I follow the threads about updates purely from curiosity as I learned some years ago that if the device and the app are working, never, ever update if you can avoid it. 

[Triletics]

@Lilbiddy that is true. When things work better not to "fix it". However, it's not a bad thing to improve things. Garmin does that, Suunto does that, Polar... hmm Polar follows the rule"if it's not broken don't fix it" 🤣 the apps change, the UI trends change, etc. Eventually, users may need to learn something new. I like how Suunto does it. Their app has a voting mechanism and any major change is given under the voting. Suunto shows several options what particular part of the app would look like and leaves it to users to decide and answering questions users may have. It's an interesting way for development. I haven't been a Suunto user for several years but I observe the community and app. Garmin changes little by little which is also a good strategy. Last time they redesigned everything also encountered huge backlash. On the other hand the old GC app had a very bad reputation so needed to be updated. Eventually, it improved to a very good app but now they seem to do one or two changes at a time and see what's response. However, all those companies release complete products. Things may be missing, some bugs occur but still it's a full experience while I can't say that about Fitbit. This is a problem of a development process. I worked years ago for a mobile gaming company that used to develop things like that. One of managers used to say "users don't need to know they are our QA". We were rushing products to meet deadlines. We released a game that had one level impossible to beat because... there were no more levels designed, we ran out of time. When I see Fitbit products this memory comes back to me 🙂

[shrinkingjudy]

I've worn a Fitbit for 10 years.  This is my third one.  Google's recent changes to the Fitbit app have reduced its function and made using it annoying.  So I get the message, Google; your purchase of the Fitbit company was an instance of Catch and Kill.  In 40 yrs I've never considered an Apple anything but when its time to replace this watch I'll be moving on and it's unlikely to be a Fitbit.